Sunday, December 5, 2010

New 10K PR!!!!

I just got back from the NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K in Central Park. I busted up my old stand alone 10K PR by 2:28 for a new time of 44:54. I wanted to break 45 mins today and I GOT IT!


Splits:
Mile 1: 7:23
Mile 2: 7:12
Mile 3: 7:02
Mile 4: 7:15
Mile 5: 7:25 (that mile HURT!)
Mile 6: 7:04
Last .2: 1:30

Course:

The course was one full lap of the park in the counter clockwise direction plus a bit extra. Mile 1 was on top of the Harlem Hills, so getting in a good warm up was key. I ran from 83 & Lex all the way to the park and around the top of the park and a bit extra to the start. I guess I did a broken 30 minute warm up with one good hill. I am glad I did this hill at the beginning of the race instead of the end (a bit of foreshadowing here...)

After mile 1 I was on cruise control until about mile 3 when I didn't feel so great anymore. The effects of going hard were catching up with me. It was mostly mental now. I just tried to put my mind elsewhere. Hitting the mile 4 marker helped me fantasize about PR'ing every distance from 10K and shorter. (which I think I did for the 4 and 5 mile distances).

Unfortunately mile 5 just killed me. There is this hill just past 72nd street & The Boathouse that is one of those hills that isn't steep, it isn't short but it also isn't long. It is just at that right pitch and length that it doesn't let up. I could hardly breath by the top and I knew my pace for this mile was shot. The 7:25, the slowest mile of the race, showed it.

Fortunately after this hill it is basically flat to the finish. I was able to recompose and redeem myself with that 7:04 mile 6 split. At mile 6, I looked at my watch and saw something like 43:3X. I knew it was going to be a close call if I wanted to hit my goal of breaking 45 mins in the 10K. I honestly think I wasn't going to do it. When I turned the corner onto the transverse, the finish was right there and I had a few extra seconds to spare.

Overall the race sucked! haha! No no no, the time was awesome, but 10K's just suck in general because they HURT! They are the most F-ing painful distance in my opinion, or else I need to run some more 5K's. With a 10K you just gun it from the start and hold on for dear life to the finish, since its going to be over before you know it. THAT is why it hurts because it is a redlining paced race that you wish would end about 10 mins sooner.

But 10K's are also a good measure of fitness, in my opinion. It shows how much volume you have, BUT also your speed work, since it is basically a 45 min sprint, in my case.

I think this is why I prefer the Half Marathon distance the most. You don't have to be breathing hard, but yet you can still hit the gas.

The 2010 Season is officially over for me. Kinda symbolic that it ended in the SAME EXACT place is started @ East 96th Street in the park last January 9th. After becoming injured after Timberman and scrapping the NYC Marathon, I wanted one last hurrah! before 2011 started. This was it, and it was a good one. I feel like 2010 was a complete season.

Now let the DOMS show up in 36 hours! haha!

26 comments:

  1. Nicely done! I haven't ran a 10K race in a while, but I can see how they are a painful distance.

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  2. Congrats... awesome job and way to end the season!

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  3. Way to go! And you are right, 10ks just plain old hurt--you've got to go hard and do it for 6-plus miles, no backing off. Plus, you did it on a tough course.A big congrats!

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  4. Nice work! I agree that the 10K is the hardest distance, but it is also the distance I do least so that might be the problem for me.

    Apologies about my blog. I will do more training and write about it just for you. You're just jealous the Michael Buble wasn't signing to you! :-P haha

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  5. Congrats on the PR! That is awesome!! I've never done a stand alone 10K, it sounds difficult because of the pacing issues. I'm so happy for you, you rockstar!

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  6. That is fantastic, well done! Definitely not the easiest distance to run a PR.

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  7. NIce job!! That's awesome! I ran it this cold, cold, morning as well but was not as successful as you! After racing two 5 mile races in the past 2 weeks my body did not like today's 10k. So I used it as a hard training run. :)

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  8. Woohoo! Nice job on a new PR! I totally agree with you about 10k races, which is why I don't race them that often. :)

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  9. Yay, congrats on a great race and new PR!!

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  10. Awesome Jon! why to embrace the hurt!

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  11. jon! good job buddy!

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  12. Way to rock your 10K race Jon! You were booking it, that is a speedy time:) Congrats on the PR!

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  13. Nice times. I wish I could get those times.

    Kevin
    http://halftriing.blogspot.com/

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  14. join me in the challenge! i bet u will be able to do close to 100 push ups before 2011!

    http://hundredpushups.com/

    check it out!

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  15. Excellent job with the PR Jon! I agree 10K's are a tough run. I love Central Park, should be up that a way and running there in a few short weeks!

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  16. I've never done a running race before. I look forward to trying one at least :)

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  17. Nice PR! way to end the season with a Great run!

    D

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  18. Way to go on your new PR! Sounds like a super successful run!

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  19. congrats on the PR! what a way to end racing in 2010 :) i hope your post-race doms aren't as bad as mine!

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  20. Way to PR!!!! Gotta love ending the year on a high like that! Congats!

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  21. Congrats! And you are right, Cat Hill is a bitch!!

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  22. Just getting caught up on my blog reading....(little behind here) CONGRATS on the PR!!!!

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